


Vanitas (gentle prince, sweet prince)

by berrybliss



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akashi had good intentions, Artist!Kuroko later on, I don't know how to tag this one except, M/M, Tragedy, analysis in the end notes, important content warning inside, prince!Akashi, vanitas motifs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 13:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14473938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrybliss/pseuds/berrybliss
Summary: Those belonging to the royal bloodline of Rakuzan were said to be able to speak to the gods, but wishes were dangerous. For Akashi Seijuurou, they had cost him his future. For Kuroko Tetsuya, they had taken away the one he loved.Vanitas- (n) - an art discipline centered around motifs such as the certainty of death, the futility of pleasure, and the transience of life.





	Vanitas (gentle prince, sweet prince)

**Author's Note:**

> “Why not incorporate this into akakuro?”, asks this author, after reading some Shakespeare and encountering an art form called Vanitas. It’s super interesting, guys.  
>  **Important content warning** : It’s a tragedy, and there’s self-inflicted death. The nature of the death is similar to a death in Romeo and Juliet. There’s no explicit mention of the act done, and it’s only mentioned in passing, but this is not meant to be taken as a glorification of suicide. What happens is meant to be a mistake that has caused nothing but hurt to the ones involved. It’s something horrible. It’s more of a sacrifice than anything, something that really could have been avoided. If this type of content is not okay for you or is potentially harmful, please feel free to press the back button.  
> On another note, if anyone wants to read a great and **dark** (emphasis there) KiKuro fic - by all means, please read “Sonnet 137” by wsakuya here on AO3. It’s a Ghoul AU with Shakespeare homage mixed in. I encountered it just a week ago and fell in love.

When Prince Seijuurou meets Tetsuya and lays eyes on him for the first time, it’s when he’s ten years old and is lacking decent company. After all, most of the people in court really are adults, and while there are those who are exactly his age, they are usually too far away to establish a routine of familiarity with. It’s Tetsuya who he sees more often, what with he and his father living inside the palace halls out of the generosity of Seijuurou’s own father, the king.

Seijuurou’s interests are not what would count as strange for a budding monarch – they’re not problematic so much as _whimsical_. He shares his mother’s particular love for art, but that’s not the only reason why he has been so quick to acquaint himself with the son of the court painter and become friends with him. Tetsuya is also keen regarding Seijuurou’s needs – he’s observant and nothing short of kind.

But now, both of them eighteen years of age and in the prime of their youth, what they share is more -heated, passion driven nights in the confines of Tetsuya’s quarters, and Seijuurou revels in this because it’s his only form of rebellion. It had started out a clandestine affair – but really, nothing stays clandestine in the palace for long – past this, he relishes in it anyway because Tetsuya is his personal liberty and wants him in turn. People know what they are to each other and do not find it in them to question it. Some regard it merely as a phase, which Seijuurou can assure them that it is anything but that.

Seijuurou has always been fixated with things he cannot have.

Kuroko Tetsuya invades his dreams. There’s more to him than meets the eye, yes, but what does meet the eye is nothing short of what Seijuurou thinks should be encased in paintings that line the walls. When he beholds Tetsuya, he finds something there that no one else has. Perhaps a factor that plays in this fondness is that Tetsuya is his discovery – so often do people come to bypass Tetsuya, that the mere fact that Seijuurou has looked upon him for so long has only made his ardor burn brighter.  

So maybe it is all a bit strange, but how stranger is it than blood thirst, than greed? Seijuurou is human, just like all of them.           

* * *

 

The days go on normally for them, until one day, Tetsuya tells him to bring a single flower into his quarters. Not a bouquet to profess love, nor a bouquet to honor death.

_“One flower is enough.”_

And when Seijuurou enters, he sees Tetsuya’s red-rimmed eyes. It is true that Tetsuya had been in down spirits earlier into the day, and had kept to himself save for when he approached Seijuurou to ask him to meet at night.

At first, Seijuurou doesn’t understand, until Tetsuya beckons him to come closer. Tetsuya holds Seijuurou’s hand and struggles to feel its familiar touch, before he reaches for the flower with reluctance.

With the faintest brush of his fingers, the flower withers. Its entire form shrivels up, and Seijuurou almost hears a cry from it.

Only then does Seijuurou understand. He’s always been quick to, and it’s easy to place the blame on no one but himself. It’s what leads him to storm into the temple of the gods, because just months before his eighteenth birthday, Seijuurou had made a wish, and Tetsuya had paid for it.

He sinks to his knees, and it’s true that his family can speak to the gods, because they come when he calls.

“Sweet prince,” There’s a hand that caresses him, the ghost of a hand belonging to Serafine, the Wish-granter of Beguiled Souls, “Do not despair – is this not what you want?”

It is she who comes to greet him, because it is she who has granted Seijuurou’s wish. It had been simple enough, born from the possibility that Seijuurou will eventually be a servant to the crown, and Tetsuya, as a result, will be out of Seijuurou’s reach.  

“It is not what Tetsuya wants,” He hisses venomously, “And that’s the only thing that matters.”

 “It is not?” Serafine observes him, observes the heir of the kingdom who will get on his knees for one boy who has offered him refuge. Maybe it had been a cruel thing to do, but wishes are for the meek, and Seijuurou should have known better.

Because she doesn’t grant the wish that’s presented to her, but the wish that lies in the chambers of Seijuurou’s heart. She grants him the plain truth of his desires, and he rejects it because he is kind like that. 

“He is yours to have. That’s what he wants, certainly.” There is nonchalance to the way she speaks, as if Tetsuya has not just been doomed to live a life of solitude, to live a life where his touch can only bring ruin.

When Seijuurou asks her what he can do to fix this, the answer is the same as she whispers in his ear and places a dagger in his hands. [1]

_“The certainty of death, the futility of pleasure, the transience of life.”_

She smiles.

 “The choice is yours, prince of Rakuzan.”

* * *

 

 “What am I to you, Tetsuya?”

 Their bodies are tangled together. Seijuurou is almost grateful he does not see Tetsuya’s expression, what with Tetsuya hugging him from behind, clinging to his warmth.  The silence is torturous where it should be calming, and Seijuurou almost hopes that Tetsuya will deny him of what they share.

“Do I dare to tell you the truth, Akashi-kun?”        

Seijuurou turns to face him. His eyes are downcast, and Seijuurou reaches for his cheek and cups it in his hand with reluctance. Tetsuya leans into his touch. Would he, if he only knew?

Seijuurou closes his eyes. “Tell me.”                           

“You are someone painfully dear to me,” Tetsuya says with sincerity, “But I am afraid I have already lost you.”

When Seijuurou kisses Tetsuya and Tetsuya parts– no, _blooms_ unknowingly for him – it means goodbye.

A life for a life.

“Akashi-kun?”

“We will be happy someday, Tetsuya.” But to Seijuurou, his own voice sounds like nothing but a desperate cry for help from a dying ember, as he is the only one who knows what lies ahead. “I swear it.”

He does not say honor. There is simply none left for someone as sullied as he, but there may be a chance to redeem himself yet.

* * *

 

Seijuurou grabs the hilt. He's no stranger to blades, and the sun shines on a new day. The kingdom will be awake by now, to see their prince wedded and to crown him king.    

_The certainty of death._

He hopes to see Tetsuya in his final moments, but even that seems too much to ask of him. He dreads his urge to laugh - he has always been told that powerful men die alone.

_The futility of pleasure._

The blood that drips is his own. When he closes his eyes, he sees his father. When he opens them, he sees Tetsuya, who will mourn him and live to tell the tale - _you are most beautiful when you smile, Tetsuya -_

There are fists banging on the door now. Seijuurou's eyes drift shut before they can break through.

_The transience of life._

* * *

 

Tetsuya has always seen both the light and dark in everything. While it is the same with how he regards the future, he cannot help but succumb to the past.

There are two paintings in his studio that the world will never lay eyes on. He keeps them hidden for himself to see, thinking that if fate had been kinder, Seijuurou would still be alive.

Both paintings are of Seijuurou. The first is of Seijuurou’s back turned to him. It’s meant to be a portrait of sorts, as he is wearing the attire of a prince. On the table beside him are beautiful things – ruby rings and sapphire necklaces and golden apples, but almost inevitably, his hand falls on the skull. There’s a ring on Seijuurou’s fingers, on the hand of his that is shown to be laid on top of the skull.

Tetsuya remembers vividly the sight of Seijuurou drenched in blood, seeping into the white of his wedding apparel. The kingdom had fallen into mourning, mourning their prince who always seemed to be carved from ivory and seemed to be nothing short of perfect. Tetsuya never believed that, because Seijuurou had been human, and he had been burdened by something the world would never know.

The second painting is more intimate to Tetsuya. It is Seijuurou lying on top of water, in a river where red and white flowers are littered. The water is clear, and when Tetsuya reaches into it, he can almost feel the water part from Seijuurou’s cheeks, cheeks that are pale and completely ridden of life.

 _Gentle prince,_ the kingdom whispers in their grief, _sweet prince._ But it is Tetsuya who grieves the most, losing count of the days and derisive of their falsehood. 

When he touches the flower bouquet with his hand, this time, it is without reluctance.

In Tetsuya’s eyes, Seijuurou will always be beautiful. He alone will remember, and he hopes that that is enough for his prince.

**Author's Note:**

> Conclusion: this author is a pretentious little flop with nothing better to do in life  
> If anyone’s interested: Analysis  
> [1] “The answer is the same” – Since Kuroko’s touch is deadly to everyone (and everything) except Akashi, if Akashi chooses not to kill Kuroko or himself, while he and Kuroko would be together, he would also be condemning Kuroko to ‘a life of solitude’ - because yes, Kuroko is his and his alone, but he doesn’t feel like it’s well-earned. He feels like Kuroko deserves more than ‘solitude with him’.  
> On the other hand, if Akashi chooses to kill himself, Kuroko will still somewhat lead ‘a life of solitude’, though in this case the focus is more on the sadness he will feel from mourning Akashi, because Akashi’s mere existence is such a big part of his life, that he’ll feel alone without Akashi. Akashi chose this alternative because of a lot of things hinted at in the fic, but above all, it’s because he firmly believes there is more to Kuroko’s life than wanting someone he can only ever have in secret. (The wedding subplot hinted at there).  
> Would the curse from the wish be broken if Akashi had killed someone else? No. The price Serafine asked had something to do with Akashi’s wish. The spoken wish was “for Tetsuya’s beauty to live on and be treasured by someone who could”. On the other hand, his true wish (the one from the heart) was for him to be able to “freely love Tetsuya for the rest of his life” [which Serafine interpreted as Tetsuya being his and only his through circumstance, thus why the cursed touch doesn’t affect Akashi].  
> The truth of it is that when the wish was granted, the spoken wish was granted to an extent. Kuroko would not age and stay beautiful, but in turn, his touch would kill. So after Akashi dies from old age? He’s really alone in every sense of the word (if taking into account the paragraphs above).  
> The reason why the “solution” (I hate to call it that… T_T) was Akashi’s death, was because it would free the both of them in a sick and twisted way. The logic offered to Akashi was that “if you die, Kuroko Tetsuya will be free not only of the curse, but of you too”. Since Akashi had a lot of internal conflict and self-blame, that just made it seem all the more right for him to sacrifice himself for Kuroko’s supposed happiness, but there’s also the fact that a deity/god(dess) wouldn’t really understand the human definition of happiness, nor the human definition of beauty being past the physical appearance?  
> But Kuroko doesn’t know Akashi blames himself for everything. He doesn’t even know the temporary curse was caused by Akashi’s wish.  
> Tragedy? Yeah.  
> SO REALLY THIS IS JUST A WHOLE LOT OF HORSESHIT ASDFGHJKL-  
> Sorry for this. Thank you for sticking to the end of this strange fic. Any comment is appreciated because I do want to talk about this fic in particular, haha.


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